Vol 4 Chapter 94: “Treasure” (Vol 4: The Otherworldly Battlefield Arc)

“You’re causing trouble, you know.”

Sukui spoke to the man in front of him.

The garbage disposal site.

In Poliviti, trash was gathered at a single location outside the city. However, it was just dumped there, not properly managed.

Poliviti had no effective means of waste disposal. Aside from burning what could be incinerated, there wasn’t much else they could do. As a result, a mountain of garbage had formed.

Even before the clergy arrived, this area had been used as a dumping ground. Sometimes, toxic gases leaked from the pile, making it an obvious hazard.

Sukui’s purpose here was to inspect the situation.

Not that Sukui was particularly knowledgeable about waste management.

The only solution he could think of was using death magic to get rid of it all at once. For now, though, he decided to see the situation for himself.

“What do you want?”

This mountain of trash was currently under the control of a certain organization that had declared the area off-limits to everyone else.

That organization was the Paine Family—the mafia group Sukui had visited just a few days ago.

“The garbage disposal site is public property. It’s unacceptable for one organization to monopolize it.”

During Sukui’s recent visit, discussions about cooperating with the Paine Family had been put on hold.

The talks had not gone well. Even if Sukui’s actions afterward had made them consider agreeing, that would have been no different from intimidation.

“I don’t care.”

Without even looking at Sukui, the man—Paine Family’s boss, Paine—continued walking towards the garbage pile.

His appearance was pitiful. The last time they met, he had exuded authority, sitting in his base with an air of power. Now, dressed in what looked like dirty work clothes, rummaging through trash, he could easily be mistaken for a beggar.

With his small stature, he looked like a completely different person from before.

“I see.”

The garbage issue was a matter for the church to handle.

As for Paine’s bizarre behavior, it had been brought to Sukui’s attention by the clergy.

Recently, the Paine Family had been monopolizing the garbage site.

Although they hadn’t committed any noticeable crimes since the clergy’s persuasion during Sukui’s last visit, the clergy suspected they were plotting something and wanted Sukui to investigate.

They had entrusted Sukui with this task. If Sukui deemed their actions criminal, he was allowed to eliminate them if necessary.

The clergy ideally wanted to guide them toward reform, but they couldn’t ignore evil deeds. After making Sukui compromise his own beliefs during the previous encounter, they likely felt the need to let him make the judgment this time.

“Still, I must insist.”

Sukui, however, was merely cooperating with the clergy’s ideals temporarily.

The man in front of him was an “evil” person who needed to be saved—or punished.

If words wouldn’t work, Sukui could deliver that salvation at any moment.

“You’re persistent.”

Despite the fear Sukui must have instilled during their previous encounter, Paine, as an underworld boss, showed no signs of intimidation.

“If you’re here to kill me, do it. I don’t care what happens after.”

Paine continued rummaging through the trash as though Sukui weren’t even there.

His behavior was bizarre.

“Pardon me, but what exactly are you doing?”

Paine was a high-ranking individual. As the leader of a large mafia, he had the power to temporarily take control of areas like this.

Yet here he was, alone—apart from a distant guard—covered in filth, sifting through trash.

His clothes and hair were stained, evidence that he’d been living in the garbage for quite some time—not just a day or two.

While it’s said that treasures can sometimes be found in garbage heaps, this was not a place for a mafia boss, much less its leader, to be.

Even in the safer areas near Sukui, sudden collapses or toxic gas emissions from the pile could easily result in fatalities.

“Huh?”

For the first time, Paine turned to look at Sukui’s words.

His reaction might have sounded aggressive, but it was the first time he had directly acknowledged Sukui.

“What do you mean, ‘what’? I’m looking for something.”

So, he’s asking what Sukui means, or at least that’s what Sukui thought. Paine seemed like the kind of guy who wouldn’t give you a proper answer unless you pried every little detail out of him. Sukui decided, for now, to play along.

He glanced at Paine’s feet.

It didn’t seem like Paine was randomly rummaging through the trash. Near him was a pile of scrap metal he’d carefully collected. Clearly, he was specifically gathering iron.

A shortage of iron resources?

No, that couldn’t be it. But Sukui couldn’t think of any other reason.

When Sukui spotted more scrap iron higher up on the mountain of garbage, he watched Paine urgently climb toward it and called out:

“It’s going to collapse, you know.”

Paine didn’t seem to hear him and kept climbing.

This wasn’t going anywhere. Sukui quickly calculated the potential collapse.

The garbage mountain trembled.

“See?”

Sukui muttered casually, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

The shaking garbage pile released part of its contents, and, with it, Paine—a foreign object—was sent flying into the air.

“I told you so.”

Sukui had anticipated this and moved to where Paine would land.

He didn’t catch him in his arms, though. Instead, Sukui stopped Paine with his foot and let him drop to the ground.

Partly because Paine was dirty, but mostly because Sukui valued him about as much as the trash he was rummaging through.

“You… you—!”

Paine seemed about to say, “It’s none of your business,” but cut himself off abruptly and looked around.

He must have hurt himself somewhere. Crawling as he tried to get up, Paine frantically headed toward something he had spotted.

It was the same piece of scrap iron that had been on the garbage pile earlier.

Completely ignoring the pain from hitting the ground, Paine picked it up, only to sigh in disappointment and add it to the pile of scrap he’d already collected.

“What exactly are you trying to do?”

Sukui approached Paine, hoping to get an answer to the question from earlier.

Paine turned to Sukui, and his gaze held neither resentment nor fear.

“You were angry that time, weren’t you?”

“That time”—he must have been referring to Sukui’s previous visit.

After hearing that Paine had killed his own child, Sukui had immediately tried to kill him in response.

“Yes. A villain who can’t value gifts from others is in need of salvation,” Sukui said.

“I don’t care about your preachy salvation. That’s not what I’m talking about.”

Paine fell silent for a moment. His eyes wandered to the garbage pile and the scrap metal he’d gathered.

“I told you about the one who claimed to be my child, didn’t I?”

“Yes.”

Sukui hadn’t forgotten.

“That brat gave me a piece of trash. Called it me.”

So, I killed them. No particular feelings about it.

But…

“Since that day, something’s been missing.”

It must be the child’s life, Sukui thought, looking at Paine with contempt.

Paine seemed unaware of this and continued speaking.

“That brat’s face hasn’t left my mind. Ever since I met you, even before that, something about it felt off. And then, when I saw your anger, I realized it.”

That piece of trash…

“It wasn’t some malicious garbage, was it?”

Of course not.

Anyone could see that if they just thought about it.

It may have looked like scrap iron to outsiders, but it was something the child had made.

They had probably gathered bits and pieces from the trash, desperately creating a figure of their father.

Perhaps their mother had shown them a glimpse of their father from afar, and the child had prepared it to give him someday.

“I don’t know. I don’t know what it is. But I lost something that day.”

Sukui looked at the mountain of scrap Paine had collected.

There was a lot of it. Paine had likely been doing this ever since that day.

“It must have been something important. But I can’t figure out what it was.”

Even so, something had been haunting him all this time.

“I don’t know what it is, but I have to find it.”

That thing he laughed at and called trash—he had to find it. He didn’t know what would happen once he did, but he knew he absolutely had to find it.

“I’m not afraid of you. I’m not even afraid of the fact that I killed that brat.”

But for his own sake, he had to find it.

“So don’t get in my way.”

Paine turned back to Sukui.

There was no despair in his eyes.

Even now, Paine seemed fully aware that Sukui could kill him at any moment—and that there was a real possibility he might. Yet, he acted as though none of it mattered in the slightest.

“Would you like some help?”

Sukui asked, sounding entirely uninterested after listening to Paine’s explanation.

Paine wasn’t exactly built for this sort of work. He wasn’t physically imposing, nor did he seem particularly athletic. His feet often got caught in the garbage, and who knew how many times he’d fallen over already.

“No.”

Paine’s response was clear.

“I don’t know. I don’t know anything. But this is something I have to find. It has to be me.”

So no, he didn’t need help.

Seeing Paine’s determination, Sukui sat down nearby and spoke.

“I’ll give you one more day.”

Sukui’s tone was gentle, almost kind.

“I don’t know your circumstances, but occupying a public space for too long is troublesome. I’d appreciate it if you could leave soon.”

Paine, however, claimed he had something to do.

“It’s evening now. I’ll give you until dawn. If you find what you’re looking for by then, there’ll be no need for you to keep occupying this space, and I’ll let the cleric know the matter is resolved.”

And if I don’t find it?

Paine didn’t ask that question.

But Sukui made it clear.

“If you don’t find it, I’ll grant you death right here.”

Right here, in this garbage heap.

He would rot away with it.

“If you continue your misdeeds, the cleric has agreed that some punishment is necessary. So please, surrender yourself to the salvation of death with peace of mind.”

This garbage site wasn’t just a dumping ground.

Sometimes items were taken away from here. Occasionally, monsters would scavenge the area. And since the rules about where garbage was dumped were fairly lax, it wasn’t guaranteed that recent trash could even be found here.

In short, just because something was thrown here didn’t mean it stayed here.

“Got it. Don’t get in my way.”

Naturally.

Without even sparing Sukui another glance, Paine resumed rummaging through the garbage pile.

As night fell and visibility diminished, Paine lit a torch and kept working.

He nearly died more than once—just today.

Even in the darkness, Paine dashed for any scrap of iron he spotted. If it was high up, he climbed. He fell, rolled down, and got covered in cuts—many of them deep.

Some of the wounds didn’t seem immediately life-threatening, but without a skilled mage to heal him, it was clear some of them could prove fatal.

Yet, Paine gave no sign of noticing his injuries. He didn’t try to protect himself or even slow down. He just kept working.

Showing weakness wasn’t something a mafia boss could afford.

And so, Paine’s work continued until dawn.

By the time morning came, a pile of scrap iron, gathered at the cost of his own life, stood before Sukui.

“It’s about time.”

Sukui muttered, glancing at the pile without any hint of sentimentality.

Paine, without resisting, stood in front of the pile.

“If your son’s gift isn’t among this pile, I will grant you death. Please take one final look.”

At that, Paine silently picked up the scrap iron he had collected.

Much of it was clearly not the right thing.

Even with limited materials, the child’s creation had still been a piece of handicraft. At the very least, it should have been in the shape of a person. But most of what Paine had gathered wasn’t even close to that.

If there was even the slightest possibility, Paine had picked it up.

One by one, Paine inspected each piece of scrap metal, shaking his head and tossing them aside.

His expression was grim, his movements desperate.

But that desperation wasn’t directed at Sukui in the slightest.

The scrap metal pile was almost gone. Among the remaining pieces, Paine slowly picked up one.

It was a small, palm-sized iron box with four long wires stuck into it like limbs.

A small rubber ball, the kind children play with, had been attached to the top, resembling a head.

It was unmistakably humanoid in shape.

“This… this…”

Paine’s voice trembled as he stared at it.

His entire body was shaking.

“Is that it?”

Sukui glanced over.

To an adult, it was undeniably trash.

The wires were unevenly cut, and the ball that served as the head had no face drawn on it. The iron box, acting as the torso, wasn’t just junk—it was dangerous. Even now, as Paine gripped it, the edges were cutting into his hand, making blood drip onto the ground.

“I… I…”

Paine didn’t answer Sukui’s question.

“I was born in this awful town. Not once did I ever think living here was worth it. All I’ve ever known was misery. And to avoid being on the receiving end of it, all I ever learned was how to make others miserable instead.”

His words came out slowly, one at a time, like they were being dragged out of him.

“I was always weak. And weak people get trampled on. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get ahead. I never grew tall, either. People mocked me for my stumpy body and short limbs my whole life.”

As if twisting a knife into an open wound, he gripped the piece of scrap even tighter. Then, he let it fall from his hand.

“That kid… he really saw me. My arms and legs aren’t this long.”

This isn’t the scrap I was looking for.

He was certain of it. No matter how many times he thought back to it, the figure he’d thrown away looked nothing like this.

Every time he remembered, it became clearer.

The figure he’d discarded as trash had been carefully made to resemble him, with so much thought, effort, and time poured into it.

A child with no money had desperately scavenged to create it.

And that’s why this wasn’t it.

“It’s dawn. Sukui, was it?”

For the first time, Paine smiled—a genuine, happy smile.

“You weren’t lying when you said I reminded you of your son. That same spark in his eyes when he’d dream big about something stupid and say nonsense.”

But at least—

Before Paine could finish, Sukui grabbed him by the throat.

“Wha—what are you doing?!”

“Pick it up.”

Lifting Paine by the neck until his feet dangled off the ground, Sukui spoke slowly.

“The scrap metal. Pick it up. From now on, every single day.”

Paine looked at him, bewildered.

“Every day, collect the parts. Keep gathering them until you can recreate the gift your son gave you.”

It was impossible.

But Sukui’s message was clear: live for that impossible goal.

“Sukui… you know…”

Paine managed to rasp out, his voice filled with a mix of disbelief and exasperation.